DEVCO Holds First Meeting of 2024 and Discusses Several Issues
The Bolivar Downtown Development Corporation (DEVCO) met for its first meeting of 2024 on Monday, March 25, 2024. The board members discussed and approved several items to further their goal of guiding growth and reinvestment in Downtown Bolivar. Board members present were Jac Belot, Calvin Howell, Scott Ledbetter, Bobby Sain, and Rashad Smith. Absent members were Bolivar Mayor Julian McTizic, Hardeman County Mayor Todd Pulse, Michael Miller, and Darrell Teubner.
The board reappointed members, whose terms were expiring, for another three year term. The board members which were reappointed were Jac Belot, Calvin Howell, Michael Miller, Bobby Sain, and Darrell Teubner.
The board then assigned Scott Ledbetter and Bobby Sain as co-chairs, Jac Belot as treasurer, and Rashad Smith as secretary.
Some of the other agenda items discussed included:
Small Town, Big Christmas – Bolivar’s Community Development and Tourism Director Dylan Hill presented a report on the impact of Bolivar’s Christmas event. He spoke about the attendance numbers gathered from Placer.ai, which uses cell phone tower ping data. Placer.ai claimed 29,900 people visited Bolivar during the times of the Christmas activities with the largest attendance on the first night, the evening of the Christmas parade. Board members asked about the number of tickets sold for the Christmas light drive through around Sand Beach Lake and the amount of concessions sold. Hill’s report did not include those numbers, but he said he would get those figures for the board members. It was stated that DEVCO invested $367,071 into the event and was anticipating a return on the investment. { Read more about Small Town, Big Christmas }
Music on the Square – A board member brought a recommendation from the Music Commission to fund all shows equally with a $1,000 allowance per show and a $50,000 annual budget for the whole season. The Music Commission’s goal is to continue to expand live performances on all things musical. After much discussion, the board voted to allocate the same funds as 2023 for Music on the Square and Open Air on the Square:
$5,000 for each Open Air on the Square event, funding four (4) total shows.
$850 for each Music on the Square & Gospel Music on the Square event, funding approximately 26 total shows.
Other agenda items included voting in favor of obtaining a $1,000,000 line of credit, discussion and updates on landscaping projects, south Bolivar entrance project, downtown building awnings, Curves building use and future, Luez Theater report and funding, donating to the Hardeman County Arts Council storage building fund, and future DEVCO project ideas.
The next DEVCO meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 20, 2024, at 5 p.m. at the Bolivar Municipal Center. The public is welcome to attend.
In 2007, the Bolivar Downtown Development Corporation (DEVCO) was formed to support the city and county governments in guiding growth and reinvestment in downtown Bolivar. DEVCO is funded through The Courthouse Square Revitalization Act of 2005 which allows Bolivar to capture a portion of the downtown sales tax to fund revitalization projects.
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